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Friday, 29 May 2015

Butterick 5283 Knit Top

I dug out this old knit top pattern (sorry to say it's no longer available on the Butterick website) to find I had already cut out View C in a size 12. I have no idea whatever happened to that, but am guessing it was too big and probably attempted in the days when I couldn't find decent knit fabric. Time for another go.

I trimmed down the pattern to a size 10 after looking at the finished measurements on the pattern tissue and pulled a navy and cream stripy knit from the stash.

I didn't realise until I got started that the whole front is a double layer (for Views A and B just the bust part is doubled) and I was short on fabric so I broke all the rules, cut the front off grain and pieced it so it had an on grain portion at the hem that lined up with the horizontal stripes on the back. This was a bit of a risk, but seems to have worked, stripes and twists are always quite fun to play with.

Once you have cut it out properly it goes together quite easily. The instructions are written well (except for the usual serger existence denial), but they do jump around a bit between views so you have to take care not to miss a step.

The double layered front means that the neck and front arm are finished neatly and the back neck and arm are just turned and stitched. This makes it quite an easy sew if you have trouble with t shirt bindings. If I had the smarts I should have stitched the back neck in navy thread, oh well, I'm not unpicking it and risking it stretching out.

As it turns out I didn't need to make any alterations from a size 10 although the shoulder seam falls forward a bit, this might be partly due to the extra weight of the fabric in the front. Anyway I am quite pleased to have rediscovered this little gem in my pattern stash and will be trying this and the other views again.

So I guess my twist obsession continues, after I posted my Style Arc Jessica dress, PatsiJean commented to let me know about Studio Faro, a really interesting blog that demonstrates pattern manipulation. I don't know when I will get around to experimenting with it, but it makes fascinating reading. Has anyone seen this already and tried something inspired by it?

Photos of me wearing it coming in the next post - shorts. Bright red shorts.....

Here are my new sewing room companions, I only let them in when I am there, which of course makes it the most desirable place to be. Unsupervised they can open drawers, pull out all the contents and cause havoc with my serger threads. I think their legs and ears have finished growing, the rest of them still needs to catch up!

that is so cute and the stripe placement is very visually interesting. looks very ready-to-wear (mean that as a compliment :) and yes Studio Faro, I have been looking at it but haven't tried anything. I love twisty things lately too.

Stripes will never cease to amaze me with their versatility! Your top turned out very nice. I might copy it as I have that pattern!I've been pinning a lot of things from Studio Faro but haven't made any yet! It seems quite daunting but you never know, I might tackle one of those for my knock offs!

I have been following Studio Faro for a while and she also does workshops at our ASG group, the next one in July, which thankfully is the basics but I am often intrigued by what she has to share on he blog.

I love this style! I haven't tried a twisty style yet, but I need to -- so flattering. And your kitties are so cute! My cat just likes to find the most expensive fabric around and curl up on it -- no polyester for him!

I just did a 3-day block workshop with Anita at Studio Faro. She is fabulous and I've signed up for next month's Pattern making course. Main motivation is to make that Vivienne Westwood style dress she has up there. Definitely recommend a class with Anita to anyone who's Sydney based (or happy to travel). It's not a sewing class - it's all about pattern making and manipulation. Then you head home and make your toiles and come back for a fitting. Very interesting. And I love the stripe work on this top. I've been lurking for a while and have now decided to actually start commenting on people's blogs!

I love your top! It's simple but visually arresting. I tried making the same pattern a couple months ago because I loved the design, but even though I pre-shrunk my fabric it shrunk more when I washed it...suffice it to say, your version is infinitely more successful than mine ;)

This is wonderful! I have some wide-striped fabric that I want to make an off-grain dress from, and your post is so timely! I love the neckline of this, and your little tweakings to get use up the fabric have made a brilliant top. Love!